Cray Research supercomputers are powerful general purpose computers. Cray computers incorprate scalar and vector capabilities and a large memory configuration. Not only does Cray have a reputation for world-class performance, it has a beautiful design aesthetic as well. Cray Supercomputers are like the Rolling Stone rock stars of the 1970s and 1980s. Everybody knows the name and they are worth a fortune. Cray is still around but it doesn't carry the same sex appeal of days gone by. Cooling was an enormous breakthrough in managing such power.
Cray 1-S/2200 at the Glenn Research Center, circa 1982 [source]
Cray 1-S/2200 at the Glenn Research Center, circa 1982 [source]
Cray SSD at the Lewis Research Center, circa 1989 [source]
CRAY-1 Brochure, circa 1975 [source]
Cray-1 Supercomputer Color Charts
Cray 1975 Color Scheme
#443a39
#8c5552
#e1bf78
#615d54
Cray 1982 Color Scheme
#812a2b
#bc6c69
#fd5e54
#c2af85
History Lost
Although we have wonderfully preserved physical machines in many museums around the world, I found it disturbing that no one has bothered to save a copy of the operating system. Each system was a multi-million dollar endeavor and I expect that the operating system code was probably tuned for each build and configuration. One version of the OS is likely not to have worked on another computer.
I finally understand the true reason for bit.savers and MAME. Hardware has become easy and relatively cheap to emulate. Software on the other hand only is more of a work of art with its function, quirks and bugs. You can not go back and reverse engineer the proprietary software and keep the historical authenticity.
Related Links
- Cray Research Cray-1 Hardware Reference Manual
- Current Cray XC Supercomputer Series
- Wikipedia description
- The Cray Files, Homebrew Cray-1A, Digital Archeology, and COS recovery
- Chess Programming on the Cray-1
